Aguado departs arts council

Posted
Thursday, May 14, 2009 12:00 am

By Kevin Deutsch

Riverdale resident Bill Aguado is stepping down as executive director of the Bronx Council on the Arts after 28 years at the helm.

Taking over the council will be Deirdre Scott, who is leaving her position as Director of Technology at The Studio Museum in Harlem. Mr. Aguado will remain with the council in a part-time presidential role.

“I feel strong, but it is time to bring in a younger generation as to not get dated and get old in business,” Mr. Aguado said in a statement. “It is important to know what the next generation’s issues are and how they interpret things. We will take that and use our services and programs to support the younger people.”

Mr. Aguado helped usher in many of the council’s most successful programs, including the Longwood Art Gallery, the Bronx Recognizes Its Own fellowship program, and the Bronx Culture Trolley.

His replacement, Ms. Scott, has held positions with cultural institutions that include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Cooper-Hewitt, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Design Museum.

Ms. Scott said she plans to “continue all the programs and services that BCA is currently offering and together strategize a plan to grow in the Bronx, especially given the economic challenges right now.”

Have a look up the narrow pathway connecting Arlington Avenue and Kappock Street in Spuyten Duyvil and one might see a steep trail of hideous, uneven pavement snaking between warped side rails bent out of shape. It’s like something out of a Gothic fairy tale.